Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for the King
72 O God, make the king right in what he decides. Make the king’s son right with You. 2 May he be right when he decides who is right and who is wrong and may he be fair to the poor. 3 Let mountains and hills bring peace to the people through what is right and good. 4 May he stand by those who are poor, save the children of those in need, and destroy the bad power over them.
5 May all the children-to-come fear You as long as the sun and the moon last. 6 May He come down like rain upon the cut grass, like rain that waters the earth. 7 In His days may all go well with those who are right and good. And may there be much peace until the moon is no more.
8 May he also rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 9 Those who live in the desert will put their faces to the ground before Him. And those who hate Him will kiss the dust. 10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring gifts. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. 11 Yes, let all kings fall down at His feet, and all nations serve Him.
12 For He will take out of trouble the one in need when he cries for help, and the poor man who has no one to help. 13 He will have loving-pity on the weak and those in need. He will save the lives of those in need. 14 He will take them from the bad power that is held over them and from being hurt. Their blood will be of much worth in His eyes. 15 He will live, and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him. Prayer will be given for Him all the time. Let them honor Him all day long.
16 May there be much grain in the land on top of the mountains. May its fruit grow like the trees of Lebanon. And may those of the city grow like the grass of the earth. 17 May His name last forever. May His name become bigger as long as the sun shines. And let men respect themselves through Him. Let all nations honor Him.
18 Honor and thanks be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does great things. 19 And honor be to His great name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His shining-greatness. Let it be so.
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
2 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. His spirit was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 Then the king called for the wonder-workers, those who used secret ways, those who learned from stars, to tell the king what he had dreamed. So they came in and stood in front of the king. 3 The king said to them, “I had a dream that troubles me, and I want to know what the dream means.”
4 Then those who learn from stars said to the king in the Aramaic language, “O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will tell you what it means.” 5 The king answered, saying, “My word is sure. If you do not tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn apart and your houses will be laid waste. 6 But if you tell me the dream and what it means, I will give you gifts and riches and great honor. So tell me the dream and what it means.” 7 They answered the king a second time, saying, “Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will tell you what it means.” 8 The king said, “I am sure that you are trying to get more time, because you see that my word is sure. 9 You know that if you do not tell me what I dreamed, there is only one penalty for you. You have agreed among yourselves to keep telling me lies until things change. So tell me the dream. Then I will know that you can tell me what it means.” 10 Those who learn from stars answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can do this for the king. For no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any wonder-worker or one who learns from stars. 11 What the king asks is too hard. No one can do it for you except the gods, who do not live among men.” 12 Because of this the king became very angry and said that all the wise men of Babylon must be destroyed. 13 So the law was sent out that the wise men must be killed. They looked for Daniel and his friends, to kill them also.
God Shows Daniel the Meaning of the Dream
14 Then Daniel spoke with wisdom and understanding to Arioch, the captain of the soldiers who watched over the king, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the king’s law so hard?” Then Arioch told him what had happened. 16 So Daniel went in and asked the king for time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, what had happened. 18 He told them to ask for loving-pity from the God of heaven about this secret, so that Daniel and his friends might not be killed with the other wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the secret was made known to Daniel in a special dream during the night. He gave honor and thanks to the God of heaven.
The Old and the New Life
17 I tell you this in the name of the Lord: You must not live any longer like the people of the world who do not know God. Their thoughts are foolish. 18 Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him. 19 They do not care anymore about what is right or wrong. They have turned themselves over to the sinful ways of the world and are always wanting to do every kind of sinful act they can think of.
20 But you did not learn anything like this from Christ. 21 If you have heard of Him and have learned from Him, 22 put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires. 23 Let your minds and hearts be made new. 24 You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.
25 So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body. 26 If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished. 27 Do not let the devil start working in your life. 28 Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help. 29 Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. 30 Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. 31 Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. 32 You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.
5 Do as God would do. Much-loved children want to do as their fathers do.
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